The short answer: replacing Congress with independents by 2028 does not require a new party or a constitutional change. It requires enough voters — independents and independent-minded Republicans and Democrats — to do one coordinated thing on a single day: vote for independent candidates for the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, and the White House on Election Day, November 7, 2028, giving the two major parties a reversible four-year time-out. This page explains exactly how that works, why it is possible, and the four steps to make it happen.
Give every major-party officeholder in Congress a minimum four-year time-out — by electing independents in their place — so a reshaped, independent Congress gets a genuine chance to do the work the current one won’t.
That is the whole proposal. It is not a demand to abolish the parties, and it is not permanent. It is a time-out: a single election in which enough Americans decide, together, to hand the job to independents and see what an unblocked Congress can do. If it fails to deliver, voters return the major parties to power at the next election. The power stays exactly where it belongs — with you.
Because the failure is bipartisan. For decades we have watched a Congress that will not agree on so much as a Mother’s Day Resolution, while the country’s hardest problems compound. This is not one party’s fault that the other could fix if only it held the majority. The gridlock is the two-party arrangement. So the time-out applies to Republicans and Democrats alike — every single one.
Consider where we stand:
A Congress that cannot act on any of this has not earned the benefit of the doubt from either party. The honest response is not to swap one majority for the other — it is to give both a time-out and let independents try.
It is possible because the audience is already there. In its most recent annual report (January 12, 2026), Gallup found a record 45% of U.S. adults now identify as political independents — the highest share since Gallup began tracking in 1988, and far more than the 27% who identify as Republicans or the 27% who identify as Democrats. That is not a fringe. It is the largest political bloc in the country — and it is this movement’s addressable audience.
The scale is also defined and finite. On November 7, 2028, three sets of federal offices are on the ballot: all 435 seats in the U.S. House, 34 seats in the U.S. Senate, and the White House — 470 offices in all. That is the entire field. Replacing the major parties is not an endless task; it is winning these 470 with independents on a single day.
The obstacle has never been the numbers. It is the belief — drilled in by decades of disappointment — that nothing can change, that dreaming big for America’s future is naive. The 12-Second Revolution is built to break exactly that belief, by turning a scattered majority into a coordinated one on a single day.
This is the single most important question, so here is the plain answer: a vote for an independent feels wasted only because we assume everyone else will keep voting the two-party line. Remove that assumption and the logic flips.
The 12-Second Revolution is not a scattering of lonely protest votes. It is a coordinated, single-day action. If enough citizens across the political spectrum vote independent on the same Election Day, independents win — and the vote becomes the opposite of wasted. The “wasted vote” fear is a coordination problem, and coordination is precisely what a movement provides.
And it is reversible. This is not a leap off a cliff. If the experiment fails to deliver, voters can return the major parties to power at the very next election. You are risking a four-year time-out, not a permanent change you can never undo.
The point of the time-out is not chaos — it is the chance to act. Freed from the two-party stalemate, a reshaped, independent Congress would have the opportunity to:
None of that is guaranteed. But none of it is even possible under the arrangement we have now. A time-out buys the possibility.
Here is the concrete part — what replacing Congress with independents by 2028 actually asks of you. Four steps, drawn directly from the founder’s message.
Add your name. It costs nothing and commits you to no party. Doing so tells the world your vote is yours alone, signals to Congress that a real movement is forming, and shows fellow Americans this is for real. As our numbers grow, doors open — journalists and broadcasters are hungry for something authentic, and they take notice of momentum. You do not have to leave your political party to do this; independents and party members alike are welcome.
This is the painful step. “Throw the bums out” has always meant everyone else’s congressman — never our own friendly, smiling one who comes home during recess to say they are the lonely voice for compromise, then returns to the Capitol and joins the stalemate. The time-out only works if it includes your representative. And remember: if the movement fails to deliver, you can send them right back at the next election.
Look for grassroots groups fielding independent candidates for federal office and back them. Or take the harder road and run yourself. Either risk it all and run — to save America — or support the ones who do.
This is where the movement gets its name. Twelve seconds is about how long it takes to fill in the circles beside the independent candidates for the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, and the White House on Election Day, November 7, 2028. That is the whole ask — one coordinated act, twelve seconds long, done by enough people on the same day to change the flow of American history.
The plan is a reversible time-out, not a permanent removal. If The Spirit of Independents fails to deliver, voters return the major parties to power at the following election. The design keeps ultimate power with the voters at every step — which is exactly why it is safe to try.
The Spirit of Independents, Inc. is a Section 527 political organization, registered with the Federal Election Commission as an independent expenditure-only committee. It does not coordinate with, and is not affiliated with, any candidate or political party. It was founded by Randy Ball — a graduate of the United States Naval Academy (Class of 1981), a former Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, a former Major Crimes detective, and a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002.
This movement lives at spirit-of-independents.com and is not connected to any book, album, or other work of a similar name.
Declare your independence. No dues. No obligations. Just a vote that’s yours.
The short answer: replacing Congress with independents by 2028 does not require a new party or a constitutional change. It requires enough voters — independents and independent-minded Republicans and Democrats — to do one coordinated thing on a single day: vote for independent candidates for the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, and the White House on Election Day, November 7, 2028, giving the two major parties a reversible four-year time-out. This page explains exactly how that works, why it is possible, and the four steps to make it happen.
Give every major-party officeholder in Congress a minimum four-year time-out — by electing independents in their place — so a reshaped, independent Congress gets a genuine chance to do the work the current one won’t.
That is the whole proposal. It is not a demand to abolish the parties, and it is not permanent. It is a time-out: a single election in which enough Americans decide, together, to hand the job to independents and see what an unblocked Congress can do. If it fails to deliver, voters return the major parties to power at the next election. The power stays exactly where it belongs — with you.
Because the failure is bipartisan. For decades we have watched a Congress that will not agree on so much as a Mother’s Day Resolution, while the country’s hardest problems compound. This is not one party’s fault that the other could fix if only it held the majority. The gridlock is the two-party arrangement. So the time-out applies to Republicans and Democrats alike — every single one.
Consider where we stand:
A Congress that cannot act on any of this has not earned the benefit of the doubt from either party. The honest response is not to swap one majority for the other — it is to give both a time-out and let independents try.
It is possible because the audience is already there. In its most recent annual report (January 12, 2026), Gallup found a record 45% of U.S. adults now identify as political independents — the highest share since Gallup began tracking in 1988, and far more than the 27% who identify as Republicans or the 27% who identify as Democrats. That is not a fringe. It is the largest political bloc in the country — and it is this movement’s addressable audience.
The scale is also defined and finite. On November 7, 2028, three sets of federal offices are on the ballot: all 435 seats in the U.S. House, 34 seats in the U.S. Senate, and the White House — 470 offices in all. That is the entire field. Replacing the major parties is not an endless task; it is winning these 470 with independents on a single day.
The obstacle has never been the numbers. It is the belief — drilled in by decades of disappointment — that nothing can change, that dreaming big for America’s future is naive. The 12-Second Revolution is built to break exactly that belief, by turning a scattered majority into a coordinated one on a single day.
This is the single most important question, so here is the plain answer: a vote for an independent feels wasted only because we assume everyone else will keep voting the two-party line. Remove that assumption and the logic flips.
The 12-Second Revolution is not a scattering of lonely protest votes. It is a coordinated, single-day action. If enough citizens across the political spectrum vote independent on the same Election Day, independents win — and the vote becomes the opposite of wasted. The “wasted vote” fear is a coordination problem, and coordination is precisely what a movement provides.
And it is reversible. This is not a leap off a cliff. If the experiment fails to deliver, voters can return the major parties to power at the very next election. You are risking a four-year time-out, not a permanent change you can never undo.
The point of the time-out is not chaos — it is the chance to act. Freed from the two-party stalemate, a reshaped, independent Congress would have the opportunity to:
None of that is guaranteed. But none of it is even possible under the arrangement we have now. A time-out buys the possibility.
Here is the concrete part — what replacing Congress with independents by 2028 actually asks of you. Four steps, drawn directly from the founder’s message.
Add your name. It costs nothing and commits you to no party. Doing so tells the world your vote is yours alone, signals to Congress that a real movement is forming, and shows fellow Americans this is for real. As our numbers grow, doors open — journalists and broadcasters are hungry for something authentic, and they take notice of momentum. You do not have to leave your political party to do this; independents and party members alike are welcome.
This is the painful step. “Throw the bums out” has always meant everyone else’s congressman — never our own friendly, smiling one who comes home during recess to say they are the lonely voice for compromise, then returns to the Capitol and joins the stalemate. The time-out only works if it includes your representative. And remember: if the movement fails to deliver, you can send them right back at the next election.
Look for grassroots groups fielding independent candidates for federal office and back them. Or take the harder road and run yourself. Either risk it all and run — to save America — or support the ones who do.
This is where the movement gets its name. Twelve seconds is about how long it takes to fill in the circles beside the independent candidates for the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, and the White House on Election Day, November 7, 2028. That is the whole ask — one coordinated act, twelve seconds long, done by enough people on the same day to change the flow of American history.
The plan is a reversible time-out, not a permanent removal. If The Spirit of Independents fails to deliver, voters return the major parties to power at the following election. The design keeps ultimate power with the voters at every step — which is exactly why it is safe to try.
The Spirit of Independents, Inc. is a Section 527 political organization, registered with the Federal Election Commission as an independent expenditure-only committee. It does not coordinate with, and is not affiliated with, any candidate or political party. It was founded by Randy Ball — a graduate of the United States Naval Academy (Class of 1981), a former Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps, a former Major Crimes detective, and a member of the Florida House of Representatives from 1994 to 2002.
This movement lives at spirit-of-independents.com and is not connected to any book, album, or other work of a similar name.
Declare your independence. No dues. No obligations. Just a vote that’s yours.